Improvisation is at the heart of baroque music, even when composers give the performers fully fleshed-out melodies and information about the harmonic underpinnings of the music. Even with all of this black-and-white material facing modern performers, there’s still an expectation that the performer is supposed to give something of herself/ himself to every performance- something new, varied and unexpected. David Morris and Katherine Heater perform the music of Abel, Bach, Cirri, Marais, Telemann and others in a program that challenges listeners to figure out where the composer’s notes leave off and the performer’s new ideas begin.

David Morris is a member of The King’s Noyse, the Galax Quartet, Quicksilver and the New York State Baroque Ensemble. He has performed with Musica Pacifica, the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Tragicomedia, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Musica Angelica, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, the Mark Morris Dance Company and Seattle’s Pacific Musicworks. Mr. Morris received his B.A. and M.A. in Music from U.C. Berkeley, and has been a guest instructor in early music performance-practice at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Mills College, Oberlin College, the Madison Early Music Festival and Cornell University. He has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, New Albion, Dorian, New World Records, Drag City Records, CBC/ Radio-Canada and New Line Cinema.

Katherine Heater, harpsichord, frequently plays with early music groups such as Musica Pacifica and Voices of Music. She has performed throughout the United States, including with Catacoustic Consort in Ohio, the Sun Valley Summer Symphony in Idaho and at the Berkeley Early Music Festival, the Bloomington Early Music Festival, and the Tropical Baroque Festival of Miami. She received an Arts Bachelor from the University of California, Berkeley in music and a Masters of Music in historical performance from Oberlin Conservatory. At the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam Ms. Heater studied harpsichord with Bob van Asperen and fortepiano with Stanley Hoogland. Also an active teacher, Ms. Heater teaches harpsichord at UC Berkeley and privately. She has been director of the San Francisco Early Music Society’s Music Discovery Workshop and co-director of the SFEMS recorder and baroque workshops.

Since its founding nearly forty years ago, the mission of the San Francisco Early Music Society has been to support and nurture early music in the Bay Area, promoting the next generation of artists and working to build the audiences to receive them. In this time SFEMS has presented the world’s greatest exponents of historical performance on our concert series, offered annual summer workshops that attract students of all ages from around the globe, sustained an affiliate program to help all lovers of early music, whether recreational or professional, pursue their projects, incubated several of the Bay Area’s most prominent musical performing groups, and co-produced the biennial Berkeley Festival and Exhibition.

We are always seeking new and better ways to enrich our community through concerts, education, and co-operation with other organizations. This year, in partnership with the Jazzschool in Berkeley, SFEMS is producing a new series of informal Sunday afternoon concerts. These performances focus on the delights of improvisation, a common feature of both early music and jazz, and are introducing the world of historically informed music making to a new audience while challenging our traditional audience to experience early music in new and fascinating ways.

Also, this coming June, for the very first time, SFEMS will be the principal producer of the internationally acclaimed Berkeley Festival. Early Music America will join us in presenting its annual Exhibition & Marketplace of instruments, music, recordings, and accessories, as well as its acclaimed Young Performers Festival, and the Festival Fringe will provide a wealth of self-produced concerts by local and visiting performers.

We have begun preparations for the 2014 Festival, as board member Robert Cole has led us in assembling a marvelous series of concerts for the Festival week (see the listings at http://www.berkeleyfestival.org.). However, to fully meet the new leadership challenge of producing the Festival, SFEMS needs to raise $100,000 above and beyond our usual operating budget. The good news is that we have already made significant progress towards achieving this goal, and we are continuing to seek funding from a variety of sources. However, the bulk of our support will need to come—as it always does—from within our early music community, from people like you.

With this exciting new challenge before us, your support is more necessary, welcome and vital to our ongoing success than ever. If you have given to SFEMS in the past, please consider contributing at a higher level this year. If you have not given in the past, please consider making your first donation now. Every gift is very important to us, and every gift, no matter the size, will help SFEMS keep early music fresh and dynamic throughout the Bay Area. Please give generously!

Friday, December 20

California RevelsThe Spirits of Haddon Hall. In the 28th annual Christmas Revels, the Lord and Lady of this stately medieval manor can no longer afford the cost of upkeep and the staff necessary to run it. Can the ghosts of past generations convince the current owners to find a way to remain in the Hall, or will this be their final Yuletide at Haddon?
A theatrical celebration of the winter solstice with music dance and pageantry from many lands. Fred Goff and Shira Kammen, masters of music.
8PM performance.
Scottish Rite Theater
1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland.
$20–$40
510-452-8800 californiarevels.org

Voices Of MusicAlessandro Grandi—Venetian Vespers A reconstruction of a first Christmas day Vespers service based on selections from Grandi’s 1630 Messa, e salmi concertati, a tre voci, as well as virtuoso vocal and instrumental music by Monteverdi, Marini, Buonamente and Uccellini, all printed in Venice. With Laura Heimes & Jennifer Ellis Kampani, sopranos; John Taylor Ward, baritone; Elizabeth Blumenstock, Carla Moore, Lisa Grodin & William Skeen, baroque strings; David Tayler, theorbo; and Hanneke van Proosdij, organ & recorder. Pre-concert lecture by Jeffrey Kurtzman 45 minutes before each performance.
8PM
St. Stephen’s Church
3 Bayview Ave., Belvedere

Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble, Cindy Beitmen, DirectorThe Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble (WAVE) and the men of the Schola Cantorum of St. Albert Priory present their annual Christmas concert following the traditional format of a Festival of Lessons and Carols, which has been the customary Christmas Eve service at King’s College, Cambridge, England since 1918. The performance includes 12th-c. Sarum chant; 13th–15th-c. French and English music; works by Ravenscroft, Ord, Mouton, and Michael Praetorius; and traditional Christmas carols with audience participation.
8PM
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
2300 Bancroft Way, Berkeley.
$20/$10 (tickets at door only).
For information, www.wavewomen.org, wavewomen@netzero.net, or 510-233-1479.

Saturday, December 21

California RevelsThe Spirits of Haddon Hall. In the 28th annual Christmas Revels, the Lord and Lady of this stately medieval manor can no longer afford the cost of upkeep and the staff necessary to run it. Can the ghosts of past generations convince the current owners to find a way to remain in the Hall, or will this be their final Yuletide at Haddon?
A theatrical celebration of the winter solstice with music dance and pageantry from many lands. Fred Goff and Shira Kammen, masters of music.
1PM and 5PM performances.
Scottish Rite Theater
1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland.
$20–$40
510-452-8800 californiarevels.org

SFEMS Annual Holiday PartyCelebrate the holiday season with dinner, A Venetian Christmas Mass by MAGNIFICAT under the direction of Warren Stewart and our annual holiday party.
Pre-Concert Dinner Served at the Musical Offering Café, 2430 Bancroft Way
The Musical Offering Café once again will offer pre-concert dining, featuring their delicious cafe menu along with a daily special for SFEMS concert-goers Saturday, December 21st 5:30–7:30 p.m., immediately before our Berkeley performance by MAGNIFICAT.
Please call 510-849-0211 for more information.Holiday Party at the Musical Offering Café, 2430 Bancroft Way
SFEMS members and friends are invited to join us for our annual holiday party, reception Saturday, December 21st at The Musical Offering Café & Classical Record Shop immediately following the Berkeley MAGNIFICAT performance at First Congregational Church.
The record shop will be open during the reception, selling a fabulous selection of early music CDs and more.

Voices Of MusicAlessandro Grandi—Venetian VespersA reconstruction of a first Christmas day Vespers service based on selections from Grandi’s 1630 Messa, e salmi concertati, a tre voci, as well as virtuoso vocal and instrumental music by Monteverdi, Marini, Buonamente and Uccellini, all printed in Venice. With Laura Heimes & Jennifer Ellis Kampani, sopranos; John Taylor Ward, baritone; Elizabeth Blumenstock, Carla Moore, Lisa Grodin & William Skeen, baroque strings; David Tayler, theorbo; and Hanneke van Proosdij, organ & recorder. Pre-concert lecture by Jeffrey Kurtzman 45 minutes before each performance.
8PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell, San Francisco.

San Francisco Renaissance Voices“A Festival of Lessons and Carols”Annual Free Family Concert. SFRV lead tenor, Corey Head, once again directs this event and brings advanced students from his vocal studio to join with members of San Francisco Renaissance Voices to recreate this Christmas tradition that features familiar holiday pieces, and in the tradition of the Festival a specially commissioned work for the evening by Bay Area composer Winton Yuichiro White, lots of audience carol sing along, and a festive holiday reception to enjoy after the concert!
7:30PM
Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church
1329 Seventh Ave., San Francisco.
FREE Donations will be cheerfully accepted. www.SFRVoices.org

Sunday, December 22

California RevelsThe Spirits of Haddon Hall. In the 28th annual Christmas Revels, the Lord and Lady of this stately medieval manor can no longer afford the cost of upkeep and the staff necessary to run it. Can the ghosts of past generations convince the current owners to find a way to remain in the Hall, or will this be their final Yuletide at Haddon?
A theatrical celebration of the winter solstice with music dance and pageantry from many lands. Fred Goff and Shira Kammen, masters of music.
1PM and 5PM performances.
Scottish Rite Theater
1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland.
$20–$40
510-452-8800 californiarevels.org

Friday, December 13

California Bach Society, Paul Flight, Director“Christmas With Peter Warlock and Henry VIII” An exploration of the English carol tradition from medieval to modern times, including music written for the Eton College chapel, works of Robert Wylkynson, Robert Parsons, Peter Warlock, and modern-day carols set to medieval texts by Benjamin Britten, John Ireland, and Gustav Holst.
8PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell St., San Francisco.
$30/$22/$18/$10
650-485-1097, www.calbach.org, info@calbach.org

California RevelsThe Spirits of Haddon Hall. In the 28th annual Christmas Revels, the Lord and Lady of this stately medieval manor can no longer afford the cost of upkeep and the staff necessary to run it. Can the ghosts of past generations convince the current owners to find a way to remain in the Hall, or will this be their final Yuletide at Haddon?
A theatrical celebration of the winter solstice with music dance and pageantry from many lands. Fred Goff and Shira Kammen, masters of music.
8PM
Scottish Rite Theater
1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland.
$20–$40
510-452-8800 californiarevels.org

Sonoma Bach, Robert Worth, Director“An Early Music Christmas: Mystery and Jubilation” This holiday program ranges from Victoria’s beloved motet O magnum mysterium to the joyful hymn In dulci jubilo, with many stops in between. Our chamber choir, Circa 1600, directed by Robert Worth, sings Christmas music by Baroque and Renaissance composers, and organist Charles Rus, performs dazzling variations on French carols.
8PM
St. Vincent de Paul Church
35 Liberty St., Petaluma.
$12–$20
707-303-4604, www.sonomabach.org/mystery-and-jubilation.html

California Bach Society, Paul Flight, Director“Christmas With Peter Warlock and Henry VIII” An exploration of the English carol tradition from medieval to modern times, including music written for the Eton College chapel, works of Robert Wylkynson, Robert Parsons, Peter Warlock, and modern-day carols set to medieval texts by Benjamin Britten, John Ireland, and Gustav Holst.
8PM
All Saint’s Episcopal Church
555 Waverley Street, Palo Alto.
$30/$22/$18/$10
650-485-1097, www.calbach.org, info@calbach.org

California Revels repeats December 13 program.The Spirits of Haddon Hall. In the 28th annual Christmas Revels, the Lord and Lady of this stately medieval manor can no longer afford the cost of upkeep and the staff necessary to run it. Can the ghosts of past generations convince the current owners to find a way to remain in the Hall, or will this be their final Yuletide at Haddon?
A theatrical celebration of the winter solstice with music dance and pageantry from many lands. Fred Goff and Shira Kammen, masters of music.
1PM and 5PM performances.
Scottish Rite Theater
1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland.
$20–$40
510-452-8800 californiarevels.org

San Francisco Choral Artists, Magen Solomon, Director“Sweet Voices & Noyses” Renaissance and early baroque works by Giovanni Gabrieli, Carlo Gesualdo, and Luca Marenzio, as well as premieres of new music by SFCA’s Composer-in-Residence Benjamin Taylor and Composer-Not-in-Residence Kala Pierson. With guest artists The Whole Noyse early wind consort.
8PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell St., San Francisco.
$30/$28/$15www.sfca.org or 415-494-8149

California Bach Society, Paul Flight, Director“Christmas With Peter Warlock and Henry VIII” An exploration of the English carol tradition from medieval to modern times, including music written for the Eton College chapel, works of Robert Wylkynson, Robert Parsons, Peter Warlock, and modern-day carols set to medieval texts by Benjamin Britten, John Ireland, and Gustav Holst.
4PM
St. John’s Presbyterian Church
2727 College Ave., Berkeley
$30/$22/$18/$10
650-485-1097, www.calbach.org, info@calbach.org

California Revels repeats December 13 program.The Spirits of Haddon Hall. In the 28th annual Christmas Revels, the Lord and Lady of this stately medieval manor can no longer afford the cost of upkeep and the staff necessary to run it. Can the ghosts of past generations convince the current owners to find a way to remain in the Hall, or will this be their final Yuletide at Haddon?
A theatrical celebration of the winter solstice with music dance and pageantry from many lands. Fred Goff and Shira Kammen, masters of music.
1PM and 5PM performances.
Scottish Rite Theater
1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland.
$20–$40
510-452-8800 californiarevels.org

A Chanticleer Christmas (see December 13)
The 12-member a cappella vocal ensemble performs seasonal works from Gregorian chant and medieval and Renaissance polyphony to traditional carols and spirituals.
8PM
St. Ignatius Church
650 Parker St., San Francisco.

St. Mary Magdalen Festival Choir, Andrew Canepa Director.“Spanish Christmas Music from the Old World to the New.”Spanish medieval, Renaissance and Mexican baroque music, including works from the Llibre Vermell and Cantigas de Santa Maria and compositions of Francisco Guerrero, Joan Cererols, Tomás Luis de Victoria, and Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla. Featuring vocal soloists Luciana Miranda, soprano; Laryssa Sadoway, mezzo soprano; Sylvia O’Daniel, alto; Rob Calvert, tenor; and Max Ziff, bass, the St. Mary Magdalen Feast Choir, and the St. Mary Magdalen Festival Consort of Musicians.
7PM
St. Mary Magdalen Church
2005 Berryman, Berkeley.
$15–$20; under 18 FREE. Free parking in lot next to the church, corner of Berryman and Henry.acanepa@marymagdalen.org or 510-526-4811

Sonoma Bach repeats program of December 13.“An Early Music Christmas: Mystery and Jubilation” This holiday program ranges from Victoria’s beloved motet O magnum mysterium to the joyful hymn In dulci jubilo, with many stops in between. Our chamber choir, Circa 1600, directed by Robert Worth, sings Christmas music by Baroque and Renaissance composers, and organist Charles Rus, performs dazzling variations on French carols.
4PM
Saturday Afternoon Club
430 10th St., Santa Rosa, CA 95401
$12–$20
707-303-4604, www.sonomabach.org/mystery-and-jubilation.html

San Francisco Bach Choir, Corey Jamason, Artistic Director“In Dulci Jubilo! A Candlelight Christmas.” Featuring polychoral music of Gallus, Praetorius, Byrd, Hassler, Biber and others. This festive program with candles, carols and multiple choirs singing in the round has become a not-to-be-missed San Francisco tradition. With violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock and the SFBC ensemble of sackbuts and strings.
8PM
Calvary Presbyterian Church
Fillmore & Jackson, San Francisco.
$35–$10 Youth up to 18 FREE
Advance 855-473-2224 or www.sfbach.org

San Francisco Choral Artists, Magen Solomon, Director“Sweet Voices & Noyses” Renaissance and early baroque works by Giovanni Gabrieli, Carlo Gesualdo, and Luca Marenzio, as well as premieres of new music by SFCA’s Composer-in-Residence Benjamin Taylor and Composer-Not-in-Residence Kala Pierson. With guest artists The Whole Noyse early wind consort.
8PM
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
600 Colorado Ave., Palo Alto.
$30/$28/$15www.sfca.org or 415-494-8149

Trinity Chamber Concerts“Musica Celestis et Mortalis.” The Euphora Project (Amy White, soprano, and Dominic Schaner, lute) perform Music of the Spheres, works from Renaissance Italy and England that celebrate the relation of music and life experience to celestial harmony.
8PM
Trinity Chapel
2320 Dana St. (at Durant), Berkeley
$15/$10
510-549-3864 www.trinitychamberconcerts.com, http://www.amymichelewhite.com

UC Berkeley Music DepartmentUniversity Baroque Ensemble, Davitt Moroney, Director, perform works by Vivaldi and Handel, including an organ concerto played by Davitt Moroney on the newly installed Noack organ in Hertz Hall.
8PM
Hertz Hall
University of California, Berkeley.
$16/$12/$5
510-642-4864 or concerts@berkeley.edu

Sunday, December 8

San Francisco Bach Choir repeats program of December 7.“In Dulci Jubilo! A Candlelight Christmas.” Featuring polychoral music of Gallus, Praetorius, Byrd, Hassler, Biber and others. This festive program with candles, carols and multiple choirs singing in the round has become a not-to-be-missed San Francisco tradition. With violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock and the SFBC ensemble of sackbuts and strings.
4PM
Calvary Presbyterian Church
Fillmore & Jackson, San Francisco.
$35–$10 Youth up to 18 FREE
Advance 855-473-2224 or www.sfbach.org

San Francisco Choral Artists repeats program of December 7.“Sweet Voices & Noyses” Renaissance and early baroque works by Giovanni Gabrieli, Carlo Gesualdo, and Luca Marenzio, as well as premieres of new music by SFCA’s Composer-in-Residence Benjamin Taylor and Composer-Not-in-Residence Kala Pierson. With guest artists The Whole Noyse early wind consort.
4PM
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
114 Montecito Ave., Oakland.
$30/$28/$15www.sfca.org or 415-494-8149